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This lens has brought to me everything I wished for. And even more than that. It's better than I could imagine. It's versatile. It's magical. It's a dream coming true.

I was a little bit afraid of the distortion mentioned by others, but I am very very glad I bought this lens. The distortion is much less than I feared.
There is vignetting at wide lens openings, but I can't say it is a con, because sometimes it adds to the atmosphere in the photo. And if not, it's easily corrected in PP.

Like I said, the lens is magic. This "magic" is not easy to explain. It is something you have to discover and then experience yourself.
A small attempt though? ... Imagine shooting flare free pictures at really close object distances with the lens wide open or nearly wide open, creating beautiful bokeh in combination with exaggerated perspectives, while the object in focus remains razor sharp, full of contrast and rendered in beautiful colours!

jtorral

Registered: September 2010Posts: 9

Carl Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 Distagon T* 2.8/21 review by jtorral

Review Date: 9/14/2010

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 10

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,800.00| Rating: 10

Pros:

build quality, unique, detailed color rendering

Cons:

no storage bag at this price point? WTF?

I use this lens on a 1Ds M III, and it took me a very short time to adjust to manual focus. In essence this is a special lens.

It is special due to the edge to edge sharpness, and the wonderful vibrancy of the colors. I am still some way from dialing in the processing of the RAW images as the degree of saturation and contrast are radically different from my "L" series lenses. My initial results have been too contrasted, and the issue is me, not the lens.

As many people have posted stunning landscapes with this lens, I opted to shoot a street Carnival and included as many faces/people as I could. I blew a few shots due to not having AF, but I also took more time and took fewer shots - so my hit rate was higher than normal.

One observation, the lens does not appear to be as wide as it is - that is, it is so linear it is easy to forget it is actually very, very wide.

The focus mechanism is stupidly precise. I use one finger to focus and there is absolutely no slop or wiggle.

The lens is all metal, including the hood. The hood "snaps" into place with a positive click, and fits perfectly. This is a huge upgrade from the often slightly-off Canon plastic hoods.

It remains to be seen if I have been bitten by the Zeiss bug. I am not sure how easily I would be able to adapt my shooting style to 100% manual focus. I need to shoot a bunch more before I form any conclusions.

Suffice it to say, with a tripod and posed shooting - landscapes or group shots, this is my lens of choice as the results are potentially stunning.

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,750.00| Rating: 10

Pros:

sharp from corner to corner, built solid

Cons:

no AF

The 21mm is by far the best wide angle lens I've used. As all Zeiss lenses this one is manual focus... but that's not a major issue. I'm using it with the Canon 5D MKII and I'm 100% satisfied. Here are a couple shots I took with the lens. I hope you enjoy: http://tinyurl.com/y9ehsre

I would suggest this lens if you don't mind manual focus. If you depend on AF then Zeiss lenses aren't for you.